Telephone access video game distribution center

ABSTRACT

A digital, interactive communication system designed to provide a plurality of remote subscribers with any one of a plurality of stored video games or like software packages through the use of a home computing assembly maintained within the subscriber&#39;s home and structured to display video as well as generating audio on a standard television receiver and further incorporating the ability to utilize contemporary video gaming control devices for subscriber program interaction. A bi-directional communication link is established over the telephone lines between the home computing assembly and the central remote game storage center wherein the software programs are transmitted as a modulated carrier to the subscriber. Program selection is controlled by a remote game storage center executive software program. Automatic billing is performed by computing equipment maintained in the remote game storage center and transmitted to a headquarters which also receives diagnostic messages associated with the remote game center and/or the associated plurality of home computing elements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a home computing element capable ofestablishing a digital, interactive communications system providing aplurality of subscribers access to a plurality of video games stored ina plurality of remote game storage centers. It also provides for the useof a standard television receiver for video and audio, and contemporaryinput devices to interact with the software program, including videogames. A bi-directional telephone link is established between the homecomputing element and a remote game storage center to access the desiredgame, and a television broadcast channel used uni-directionally totransmit the game software programs.

Much is known about video gaming devices for the home. Presently, allrequire non-volatile game cartridges to store the game softwareprograms, and use known color graphics circuits along with synthesizedaudio techniques. Game cartridges are relatively expensive to purchase,and once they are used for some time, they are used rarely thereafter.This has led to the proliferation of video game rental outlets asindividuals express that they would rather have variety than ownership,and would also rather make a shorter and less expensive commitment.

Prior art patents representing known communication or subscriber systemsare represented in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,372 to McCalley wherein adigital, interactive communication system is accessible to a pluralityof subscribers who can select any of a plurality of pre-recordedvideo/audio presentations for viewing on a conventional television set.The system includes a converter tuned to a channel for monitoring adigital stream of information including digital packets representativeof video/audio presentations selected by the individual subscribers. Asubscriber is housed within the apparatus supplied the individualsubscriber and the subscriber server receiving uniquely addresseddigital packets converts the received packets into NTSC-compatibleanalog formatted video/audio presentation for transmission to therequesting subscriber.

In addition, Abraham, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,567,512 and 4,590,516, disclosesa system controlled through conventional telephone networking inconjunction with a home controller that contains a micro-processor andincorporating a telephone interface which allows a subscriber to requesta given program which is available on a pre-scheduled time basis.Abraham does not disclose digital transmissions. In addition, Abrahamdiscloses in U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,806 signal traffic paths beingestablished for telephone communication and cable program transmissionin a basic subscription broadcast system. The program material is storedat a library broadcast station in analog form and is digitized and timecompressed after readout for transmission to the subscribers along thecable paths.

Other patents demonstrating the prior art of the same subject matterinclude U.S. Pat. Nos. Pocock et al., 4,734,764; Clark et al.,4,761,684; and Gordon, 4,763,191.

In addition to the above, the U.S. Pat. No. to Harrison, 4,584,603,discloses an amusement and information system for use in a closedenvironment such as on airlines wherein an entertainment terminalincluding a keyboard and video display assembly is available for use bythe occupant and is structured to provide access to video games as wellas movies and other selected information.

Although it is well known to use a bi-directional telephone link, asevidenced by the above-noted patents, to access audio and videoinformation that is transmitted as a related but independent televisionbroadcast channel, it is apparent that a need exists for thetransmission of executable computer software program code representingvideo games using a television broadcast channel to reach a plurality ofsubscribers and act upon individual requests.

It is an object of this invention to provide a vehicle whereby aplurality of video game software programs are made availablesubstantially upon demand and upon request to individual subscribers ona "pay-per-play" basis with a minimum of subscriber overhead. Anotherobject is to provide a home computing element that provides the means toutilize said software programs, including video games, from within theresidence and under subscriber control using contemporary game controldevices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the system of the present invention, any of aplurality of individual subscribers may request a video game stored in asoftware program library at a remote location utilizing a home computingelement or assembly to establish a bi-directional telephonecommunication link with a remote game storage center to access theservices offered. The remote game storage center acknowledges therequest and establishes a bi-directional channel of communications. Thehome computing element transmits a unique identification code, the gameselect code, the existence of a previously loaded game software programand any mode commands. During this time, the display on the homecomputing element shows the status of the operation in progress. If thehomecomputing element cannot establish communications with the remotegame storage center, it will retry several times before dropping theline and indicating a failed communication attempt to the subscriber.

While maintaining communications with the home computing element, theremote game storage center logs the time, telephone number,identification code, the operating mode and the desired game selectionof the requesting home computing element. If the selected game isalready resident in the home computing element, the remote game storagecenter transmits an authorization code to the home computing elementeffectively enabling the software program, and drops the telephone line.A game software program is not transmitted in this case, but if theselection is not in the home computing element memory, the remote gamestorage center transmits the encoded video game software program and thehome computing element identification code as a digital bit stream ofinformation over a television broadcast channel. The telephone line ismaintained active until all tasks have been completed.

The home computing element requesting the game may receive the videogame software program only after identification code validation occurs.This prevents unauthorized use by others. Once reception of all thesoftware data has been successfully completed, the home computingelement acknowledges receipt to the remote game storage center and dropsthe telephone line. The encoded software program is decoded and isenabled to be used. The subscriber is told through the display that thegame is ready for use. All of these actions occur in a very short periodof time.

The home computing element offers the subscriber the means to interactwith the game using contemporary gaming control or input devices. Thegame may be played as many times as desired. Each time the subscriberrestarts the game, a telephone link is established with the remote gamestorage center for billing and authorization for use before the game maybe used. The software program remains in memory until either power isremoved or a new software program is loaded Even though a program may beresident within the home computing element, its use is restricted unlessauthorization is issued by the remote game storage center. The remotegame storage center always maintains an activity log for each subscriberwhich is used for billing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature of the present invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a system level block diagram depicting a digital interactivecommunication system in conjunction with a home computing assembly ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of one preferred embodiment of the home computingassembly as represented in block diagram in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed functional block diagram of the home computingassembly shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of a remote gamestorage center of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting the operational logic encompassing theremote game storage center of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart that relates the tasks performed by a homecomputing assembly executive program.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the functional aspects of a commandprocessor defined as part of the home computing assembly shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the dial-up routine "DIAL" which is invoked bythe command processor whose flow chart is shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a continuation of the flow chart shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the functions performed by the game storagecard programming routine "PROG" which is invoked by the commandprocessor whose flow chart is shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of the reset game routine "RST" which is invokedby the command processor whose flow chart is shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of the start game routine "STRT" which isinvoked by the command processor whose flow chart is shown in FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of the present inventioncomprises a system including a plurality of remote game storage centers60which communicate with a plurality of subscriber locations indicatedas such. Each of the subscriber locations includes a home computingassembly or element 10, a standard television receiver 73 and one ormore gaming control devices 12. A digital interactive communicationsenvironment is established using a plurality of voice quality telephonelines 74 and a television broadcast facility 92 such as a CATV network,defined in FIG. 1as cable head end which is linked to the homesubscriber facility and more particularly, the home computing element asat 10. It should be noted thatthe telephone lines 74 connect directlythe remote game storage center 60 with the home computing element 10 andalso connect the remote game storage center with a headquarters 90, tobe described in greater detail hereinafter.

The subscriber utilizes the home computing element 10 to call the remotegame storage center 60 through the telephone line 74. Once the link isestablished, the subscriber may select any one of a plurality ofpre-stored video games or like software programs previously provided tothe subscriber by any type of pre-available menu. The selection is madebypressing the appropriate keys as at 24 on the home computing element10 as set forth in greater detail in FIG. 2. The software programrepresenting the selected video game is retrieved from a permanentstorage library by acomputer facility at the remote game storage center60 and transmitted typically to a CATV head 92 as an encoded stream ofdigital data in NTSC compatible format as at 70. The signal is thenbroadcast through the CATV network along with pre-recorded videoprogramming to all cable subscribers. All cable subscribers may view thepre-recorded video programming portion. However, only the specificallyrequesting subscriber locations or home installations containing therequesting home computing element 10 can receive, decode and use thevideo game software programs which have been selected.

The RF video signal is received from the distribution cable 71, isprocessed and the resulting, decoded software program stored by the HCE10and is then enabled for use by the subscriber in conjunction withdisplay at the conventional television receiver 73. The desired gamingcontrol facilities as at 12 are also usable for subscriber interactionwith the video game software program.

All billing for use of the subscribed video games is performedautomatically by the computer facilities of the remote game storagecenter60 and the information is transmitted over the telephone lines 74to the main office or headquarters 90 (see FIG. 1). The headquarters 90may also request other specific information such as but not limited todiagnostic test results from the remote game storage center 60 and maysend commands and/or software programs that may be executed by thecomputer facilities maintained within the remote game storage center 60.

Again with reference to FIG. 2, a preferred embodiment of the homecomputing element or assembly 10 encompasses an alphanumeric display 13todemonstrate or display messages. In addition, a keyboard forsubscriber interaction, for example, to enter game selection andcommands are represented and includes numerical keys collectivelyreferred to as 24. Inaddition, commands may be entered into the systemby use and considered a part of the home computing element 10.

In operation, the subscriber first uses the numeric keypad 15 furtherutilizing any of the numerical keys to enter the code number for thevideogame programs selected off the aforementioned published menupreviously provided. The clear key 16 is used to correct any data entryerrors. Once the entire number is entered the enter key 17 is pressedand the home computing element 10 responds by displaying the selectionson the display 13. The dial key 18 is then pressed to call the remotegame storage center60 and transmit the proper home computing element 10identification code and game selection number by virtue of telephoneline 74. The game software program is received by the home computingelement 10 where it is decoded and stored. The display 13 indicates thata game is loaded and ready for play. The game is started by pressing thestart key 23 and paused at any time by pressing the appropriate pausekey 22. Pressing thiskey again serves to restart the game. The TV/gamekey 21 may be pressed to switch to view standard programming on thetelevision receiver 73 overriding the game display and audio.

The video game software program may be permanently stored in aremovable, non-volatile memory card 25 by ensuring that a card is placedin the side slot as appears in game may be played as often as subscriberlikes using the card 25 without incurring additional costs.

Referring to FIGS. 5 through 12; FIG. 5 demonstrates a flow chartdepictingthe operational logic encompassing the remote game storagecenter. FIG. 6 is a flow chart demonstrating the task performed by anexecutive program encompassed within the home computing element 10.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the functional aspects of a commandprocessor defining a portion of the home computing element 10 shown indetail in FIG. 2. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a dial-up routine(DIAL) which is invoked by the command processor (FIG. 7) of the homecomputing element 10.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart demonstrating the functions performed by thegame storage card 25 programming routine (PROG) which is invoked by thecommandprocessor (FIG. 7) of the home computing element of FIG. 2. FIG.11 is a flow chart of a reset game routine (RST) which is invoked by thecommand processor whose flow chart is shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart demonstrating the start game routine (STRT)invokedby the command processor (FIG. 7) of the home computing element10.

FIG. 3 is a detailed, internal block diagram which shows all of themajor circuits contained in the home computing element 10. The homecomputing element 10 is based on a micro-processing unit 30 which actsas the overall controller. The micro-computer 30 operates as dictated bythe executive program which is stored in the ROM 31. The flow charts asset forth in FIGS. 5 through 12 and as explained in greater detail aboveillustrate the operations related to the executive program in morespecific detail. Data areas required by the executive and externalprogramareas reserved for the use of downloaded video game softwareprograms reside in random access memory (RAM) 32. The memory areas inRAM are volatile and will lose their contents if power is removed,therefore, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM) 33 provides non-volatile storage for such data as the telephonenumber of the remote game storage center 60 serving the subscriber, thehome computing element 10 identification code, and other informationthat must be retained if power is lost.

As shown in FIG. 3, several circuits are provided to interface themicro-controller or micro-processor unit 30 to the outside worldreferred to herein as peripheral devices. A telephone link is providedby a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) 34 whose digitaloutputkeys two distinct audio tones that are transmitted to thetelephone line, along with "hand-shaking" information by a modeminterface 35. The modulated outputs are transformer coupled to thetelephone line 74. All telephone communications, including automaticdial-up are handled by the micro-processing unit 30 utilizing thiscircuitry.

The keyboard 42 status is read by the micro-processing unit 30 through aperipheral interface adapter 40 which is capable of interfacing withdigital inputs and outputs only. A contact based game control adapter isinterfaced to the micro-processing unit 30 through the peripheralinterface adapter 40, but potentiometer based input devices, such assome joy-sticks and trackballs, are interfaced through an analog todigital converter (ADC) 39 which is capable of converting the analogsignals provided by the input device to their numeric or binaryrepresentations required by the micro-processing unit 30. The displaymodule 13 (see also FIG. 2) containing the internal electronicsnecessary to display alpha/numeric characters, interfaces directly tothe micro-processing unit30 data bus 50. The display is where all thesystem status messages are displayed to the subscriber.

Again with reference to FIG. 3, the incoming broadcast channel 71 ismonitored for game software programs. The signal is demodulated by an RFdemodulator 36 and then passed to a digital signal processor 37 whichsamples the signal, converts it to digital data, processes theinformationand then makes it available to the micro-processing unit 30.The digital signal processor 37 is a single-chip computer tailored tothe task of obtaining a digital representation of analog signals anddigital processing at a very fast rate; currently up to 33 millionoperations per second. The digital signal processor 37 acts as aco-processor operating under the control of its own custom softwareprogram written in a machine specific computer language.

The NTSC compatible signal 52 that is ultimately connected to thetelevision receiver 73 contains all of the video and audio informationassociated with the game. The video is generated by the graphicsgeneratorcircuit 45 which is itself another co-processor, while thesound generator 44 creates all of the audio and is directly controlledby the micro-processing unit 30. The output signals are used to modulatecarrierswith the video 47 and audio 46 modulators and then mixed with aRF combiner48 whose output is a NTSC compatible television signal 52that drives the television receiver 73. The TV/GAME relay 49 iscontrolled by the micro-processing unit 30 and connects the output ofthe combiner 52 to thevideo output jack. The relay 49 responds to theactivity of the TV/GAME key21 as an alternate action device.

With reference to FIG. 4, the remote game stored center 60 (FIG. 1)includes a thirty-two bit desk top computer 61 to perform all requiredprocessing, storage and control functions. Storage for the dedicated andgame software is provided by a hard disk 63 with fast access times. Thecomputer 61 is initially loaded from the magnetic tape cartridge drive64 by a utility invoked from the 1.44 megabyte floppy drive 62containing theappropriate disk. The utility reads the software programsfrom the tape drive 64 and stores it on the hard disk 63 for fast,random access of files. The flow chart illustrating the major tasksperformed by the executive program of the remote game stored center 60is shown in FIG. 5.

The computer 61 is also responsible for controlling telephone access toresident services. A plurality of telephone lines 79 are routed by atelephone switching controller 67 to several modems 66 which convert theFSK telephone signals 80 to RS-232 digital, serial data 81. This data isread and buffered by a RS-232 multiplexer/buffer 65 which allows highspeed data transfers through a parallel interface 87 to serve a largeplurality of modems 66. These are all bi-directional data paths allowingthe computer 61 to receive and transmit data through the telephone. Thecomputer 61 responds to different messages from the subscriber and othermessages from the main office or headquarters dealing with gameselectionsto be broadcast, types of service being provided, diagnostictest results, and billing information and other relevant informationrequests or commandmessages.

The last major task performed by the remote game storage center 60,computer 61 is the transmission of the game software programs that willultimately execute in a home computing element 10. The software isoutput by the computer 61 as a digital bit stream 85 which is modulatedand mixedwith the signal coming from the video cassette recorder/player(VCR) 68, orother broadcast source by an RF modulator 69. The resultingoutput 70 is then typically delivered to a CATV head end 92 fordistribution. The VCR 68 contains standard pre-recorded programming forbroadcast, and is controlled by the computer 61 through a series ofcontrol lines 83.

It is therefore to be understood that the following claims are intendedto cover all the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed is:
 1. Abi-directional, interactive communications system for transmitting in adigital format, programs including video games to a plurality ofsubscriber locations on demand, said system comprising:a remote storagecenter for storing software programs, a television broadcast facilityfor unidirectionally transmitting programs, a home computing assemblydisposed at each subscriber location and connected bidirectionally bytelephone lines to the remote storage center, said home computingassembly also being linked to the television broadcast facility, saidhome computing assembly being structured to receive individuallyaddressed programs over telephone lines from the remote storage centerand to cause transfer of digital streams of data from the remote storagecenter to the television broadcast facility and transfer of the digitalstreams of data from the television broadcast facility to said homecomputing assembly for interaction with said individually addressedprograms in said home computing assembly as received from said remotestorage center, and said home computing assembly including decoder meanstuned to a television broadcast channel for monitoring digital streamsof data as transmitted from the television broadcast facility, saidremote storage center including detection means for detecting properidentification codes of requesting subscribers, said home computingassembly including digital processing means for receiving the digitalstreams of data by the requesting ones of home computing assemblies, andsaid home computing assembly further including distributed computerprocessing means for invoking the programs to perform a task associatedwith said programs and means to interact with said programs as receivedfrom the television broadcast facility.
 2. A system as claimed in claim1, wherein each of said home computing assemblies are defined as remoteslave computers within a wide area network.
 3. A system as in claim 1further comprising a standard television receiver and a game controlassembly located at each subscriber location and each being connected tosaid home computing assembly, the software program being loaded from thetelevision broadcast channel.
 4. A system as in claim 1 wherein each ofsaid home computing assemblies are structured to accomplish independentcontrol of the television video and audio locally at the subscriberlocation, whereby control of video and audio signals is not accomplishedat the originating television broadcast facility.
 5. A system as inclaim 1 wherein each of said home computing assemblies include a memoryprogrammer means for permanently recording the software program residentin RAM memory on a non-volatile game storage device such as aprogrammable memory medium for re-use.
 6. A system as in claim 1 whereinsaid remote storage center comprises a self-test diagnostic capabilitymeans for allowing access to a fault history map used to isolatemalfunctions of system, components, telephone links or televisionbroadcast channels, on demand.
 7. A system as in claim 1 furthercomprising an adaptive billing sub-system being computer based andcapable of tracking subscriber activity.